Chapter 53 (Night 4) (TBOM): The Jig Is Up

                                    

                                          
All right, Ariel! You ready? All together now!
ARIEL: Yeah! Let's do it!
BOTH: Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another chapter of "Lightspeed"!
(Both of them laugh.) 
Last time, we saw an emergence to remember as Ariel Axilas finally came out of hiding and used her superpowers with great skill to deliver the smackdown on Chief Charles P. Higgins and the corrupt Cambridge Police Department!
ARIEL: Fuck yeah! I wrecked those guys, I don't you forget it!
I won't be forgetting it anytime soon, no! Anyway, the readers out there all know what happened. You showed Higgins and his men what for, and your father, your uncle, and your best friend all accepted you for who you were! 
ARIEL: Pffft. They better have. And I also finally know where the title of this novel comes from! It was my callsign the whole time; "Lightspeed"!
Yep! See? Now you're getting with the program! But moving on.....the last chapter ended with Higgins making one last-ditch attempt to kill Ariel Axilas.....only to be suddenly interrupted by none other than the Mayor of Cambridge himself, his full security team, and basically the entire population of the city!
ARIEL: Mmm-hmm! This is going to be where Higgins finally gets exposed, right? 
Maybe! We shall see! Stick around, won't you?
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"Put barricades around all of the civilians who came with us," the Mayor of Cambridge ordered to his retinue. "We don't want to risk a crowd surge or anything like that; this situation is already heated enough as is."
The Mayor's bodyguards, who all wore suits and shades—as well as having wired earpieces within their ears—nodded at their superior's instructions and began setting up barricades to section off the population of Cambridge from everyone else. They formed a long line consisting of several barricades sitting end-to-end; on one end were Ariel Axilas and her party, Chief Charles P. Higgins and the CPD, and the Mayor of Cambridge and his retinue.....and on the other end were the collective population of Cambridge, who were trying to summon as much restraint as they could to not break down said barricades and attack the corrupt chief on sight. 
"Mayor! Thank goodness you're here!" Higgins said to the newcomer in a relieved tone. 
The Mayor, at first, humored Higgins's lies. "Right. What seems to be the problem?"
"Look around!" the chief said, gesturing around to the ruined battlefield. "Crashed choppers, shattered patrol cars, my ranks decimated.....all thanks to those monsters over there!"
He gestured to Ariel, Erica, Marle, Tajwar, Ariel's parents, and all of their allies. "I tried bringing in a squad of CPD officers into the MIT campus so that we could respond to a call regarding a hostage situation inside the Kresge Auditorium.....but we've encountered severe resistance, just like at the Black Heritage Trail."
"Hey!" Ariel cried. "Don't pin this whole thing on us! You're the one who started this entire shit show!" 
"They were all insane! Out of control!" Higgins went on, continuing his practice of boldly and unrepentantly lying to the Mayor. "They would've all killed me too if you hadn't come along, Mayor!"